Complications of twin pregnancy

Any pregnancy has risks. But the chance of having serious problems increases with each baby the mother is carrying at the same time.

If you are pregnant with more than one baby, you may be more likely to:

Develop a high blood pressure or preeclampsia

Develop gestational diabetes

Develop anaemia

Deliver your babies too early. When babies are born too early, their organs have not had a chance to fully form. This can cause serious lung, brain, heart and eye problems.

Have a miscarriage. This may mean that you may lose one or more of your babies.

Have a baby born with a birth defect? Certain genetic disorders may be more likely to occur in multiple pregnancies.

Haemorrhage, both ante partum and postpartum.

Have an operative delivery.

Have severity of symptoms of pregnancy like nausea, vomiting, heartburn, breathlessness.

Postnatal illnesses.

In severe cases, death. Maternal mortality is 2.5 times higher for twin pregnancy than a singleton pregnancy.

These problems may or may not happen to you. Although a naturally occurring phenomenon, multiple pregnancies are considered high-risk. There are increased risks to both mother and babies.

Risks to the foetus or baby

There is an increased risk of stillbirth.

Increased risk of preterm birth.

Due to preterm birth, the neonatal mortality rate is high.

There may be a chance of long-term neuro-developmental delay.

Chances of chronic lung disease.

Increased risk of umbilical cord entanglement.

Low birth weight.

Twin pregnancies are slightly more likely when the following factors are present in the woman.

Between the age of 30 and 40 years

Greater than average height and weight

Several previous pregnancies

History of twins in the mother’s family

Women undergoing certain fertility treatments may have a greater chance of multiple births. With in-vitro fertilisation, primarily due to the insertion of multiple embryos into the uterus, chances of multiple births increase.